<h1>Character</h1>

<p>The Character data structure is used to identify the glyph that is displayed 
for a given character in a line of text. The spacing to the next character is 
also defined.</p>

<table>

<tr>
<th nowrap>Field Name</th>
<th>Type</th>
<th>Size</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>

<tr>
<td nowrap valign="top">glyphIndex</td>
<td nowrap valign="top">unsigned bit</td>
<td nowrap valign="top" align="right">&lt;n&gt;</td>
<td>An index into the array of Shapes that define the glyphs for a given font.</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td nowrap valign="top">advance</td>
<td nowrap valign="top">unsigned bit</td>
<td nowrap valign="top" align="right">&lt;n&gt;</td>
<td>The distance, in twips, from the origin of the glyph representing the current 
character to the next glyph to be displayed.</td>
</tr>

</table>

<p>A single line of text is displayed using an Text data structure which contains an 
array of Characters. Blocks of text can be created by combining one or 
more Text structures The size, colour and relative position of each line within 
the block is defined by the Text data structure.</p>

<P>The number of bits used by the glyphIndex and advance fields is determined 
by the maximum advance and glyph referenced. This compresses the size of the 
data structure as much as possible.

<h2>History</h2>

<p>The Character data structure represents the GlyphEntry structure from Macromedia 
Flash (SWF) File Format Specification. It was introduced in Flash 1.</p>
